Insulin

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Now Shipping: Medtronic Guardian Connect CGM System

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Medtronic's Guardian Connect is composed of three key components: the sensor, a bluetooth transmitter that lasts a year, and a mobile app

Medtronic's Guardian Connect is composed of three key components: the sensor, a bluetooth transmitter that lasts a year, and a mobile app

We're excited to share that Healthy Living Medical Supply is now shipping the Medtronic Guardian Connect CGM system! This is a great technology option for any patient who is taking insulin via injections and who isn't quite ready for an insulin pump. Read more about the Guardian Connect CGM system at the Medtronic website. 

What is CGM? CGM stands for Continuous Glucose Monitoring and is a small, half dollar sized device that goes on your body and measures blood sugar levels every five minutes or roughly 288 times per day. 

What are the benefits of CGM? We've written about this here on our blog before, but in short CGM reduces the number of daily finger sticks while giving patients much greater insight into what is happening with their body's sugar levels. Medtronic Guardian Connect's stand alone CGM system takes readings every five minutes or 288 times throughout the day and night - this is significantly more information than is yielded through finger sticks alone.

What are the top benefits of Medtronic's Guardian Connect CGM System?

1. The data is automatically uploaded directly to the physician's office via Medtronic's CareLink platform. 

2. Predictive alerts for highs and lows are sent out 60 minutes in advance. Predictive alerts are sent out 40 minutes faster than the competition.

3. IBM Watson integration creates actionable trends from user CGM data.

4. Last but not least, Medtronic's Guardian Connect CGM system is significantly less expensive for the patient and health plan in comparison to the competition. Why? Because the transmitter lasts for one year, no receiver is needed, and a month's supply comes with five sensors for a total of 35 days of wear time. This means lower copays for patients, longer sensor wear time and a lower spend for the health plan. 

Most major commercial insurances, including Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Health Alliance Plan of Michigan (HAP), will pay for CGM. Contact Healthy Living Medical Supply today at 866-779-8512 to learn more and to begin the easy enrollment process.

Michigan Residents: Keep your business local! Healthy Living Medical Supply is the only locally owned and operated diabetes speciality provider in the state of Michigan...and we provide world class customer service!

Update on Medtronic's Guardian Connect CGM System

Healthy Living Medical Supply’s Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) Team had the opportunity to participate in a live webinar yesterday from Medtronic – the focus of the session was their new stand-alone CGM product known as the Guardian Connect CGM System. Our team has been eagerly anticipating the launch of this product since the product received FDA approval back in March.

Here are a few highlights of what we learned about the product during the webinar:

1.     The Guardian Connect transmitter connects via Bluetooth technology to iPhones (and iPod Touch devices if you can purchase one on eBay)

2.     The sensor is the same as the one used for the 670G closed loop system, but the Guardian Connect transmitter DOES NOT communicate with the 670G pump. The transmitter is labeled “GC” which differentiates it from the transmitter used with the 670G pump.

3.     The system does not have a receiver—this will be a great benefit to those patients who don’t want to haul around another piece of hardware.

4.     Android support is coming-Medtronic is targeting the end of the calendar year for Android users.

5.     The sensor features a new barrier which helps mitigate against skin irritation – this is also the smallest sensor ever for a Medtronic CGM product.

6.     Sensor wear time is up to 7 days and the system includes a one-year warranty.

7.     The system features a range of alerts, including predictive alerts which can notify of highs and lows anywhere from 10-60 minutes in advance.

8.     Patients can invite up to five care partners to view data and receive alerts via SMS and data is easily shared with providers via the Care Link system.

9.     The Guaurdian Connect CGM System providers users access to the Sugar.IQ diabetes assistant, which is a separate application on the phone. The Sugar.IQ app takes real time data from the Guardian Connect app, sync with IBM’s Watson, and then presents various insulin, food and motivational insights to the user.

Medtronic’s Guardian Connect Smart CGM system is slated to be released in early summer. The system is not approved by Medicare, but should be reimbursed by most major commercial insurances including Blue Cross Blue Shield, Health Alliance Plan of Michigan, Priority Health, etc.

If you are a patient and wish to learn more about the Guradian Connect Smart CGM system, visit this link.

For providers interested in learning more, visit this link.

If you would like to be contacted by Healthy Living once this system becomes available, please fill out the brief form below: